Water Fasting Tips and Information

Water fasting is the complete abstinence from all forms of nourishment other than water for a period of time.

We all fast every time we go to sleep, which is why we refer to the first meal of the day as breakfast, we are breaking the fast with our first meal.

While many people tend to refer to periods on juices as fasts, these are not actually fasts and should rather be called juice feasts.

Why Fasting is often considered a good thing

When you fast, you give your body a chance to clear out the accumulated toxins that have built up over your lifetime.

Digestion takes up most of the body's energy and when there are more toxins coming in than the body can immediately eliminate, the body stores these toxins to 'deal with later'.

The only problem is that unless you radically improve your lifestyle, later may never come.

For people following a healthy raw food lifestyle and eating very easily digested fruits and vegetables exclusively, the body is able to gradually release all these stored toxins.

When To Fast

A great time to fast is whenever you feel a complete loss of appetite. This seems like a no brainer, but you'd be amazed at how often society at large tries to force-feed someone who has lost appetite, by feeding them things to 'stimulate their appetite' as it is largely believed that we need to 'eat to get our strength up.'

If you have lost your appetite, this is a clear signal that the body is too busy dealing with other things, such as an impending illness and would rather not have to deal with digestion right now.

This would be a perfect time to rest and allow your body to do its work and return to eating when your appetite comes back. However, this should just be a very short period, and the moment you feel like eating - EAT.

How Long To Fast?

It is perfectly safe to water fast for a short period (up to 3 days) on your own, but generally if you are planning to fast for longer it is recommended that you do so under the guidance of a skilled fasting practitioner, such as Dr Douglas Graham.

This is not because fasting is dangerous (though it can be), but rather because people sometimes do dangerous things when left to their own devices.

I've read some scary stories of folks who say they're water fasting for 30 days all by themselves (a CRAZY idea), then later on you read, oh well it's not just water, they're also having some black coffee here and there and a little bit of protein powder now and again, and next thing they're breaking the fast on a piece of bread and yes, that is all VERY dangerous.

During an extended water fast over a few weeks, a skilled fasting practitioner will take regular blood tests and monitor levels of potassium and electrolytes and other essential nutrients and make sure that none of the levels are dropping too low.

What Happens During A Fast?

During a fast your body will initially use up all the glycogen reserves in your liver. After a period of roughly 48 hours in women and 72 hours in men, the body realizes that a fast is taking place and will then enter what is known as the 'protein sparing' phase of the fast.

The body enters ketosis and breaks down fat reserves to use as the primary source of fuel and conserves all the muscle mass.

Therefore, on an extended water fast, you would lose less muscle mass then you would on a restricted diet for the same amount of time.

What To Do During A Fast

During a fast, you should plan to rest as much as possible, and remove all distractions such as work, phones, computers etc and take a complete break, resting in bed as much as possible.

This will allow the most healing to take place.

Drink ONLY pure water. Do not drink anything else, especially not caffeinated zero calorie drinks (you're fasting for your health after all, aren't you?).

You should drink lots of water, preferably upwards of 2 liters per day.

What To Expect During The Fast

You will generally lose a fair bit of weight early in the fast but this will taper off as the fast continues. Weight loss may be a few pounds per day in the early days but usually averages out at a pound per day.

However, a lot of this initial weight loss is water weight as the glycogen stores are depleted, so some weight gain can be expected once eating starts again.

The average weight loss is around 11 pounds the first week, 7 pounds the second week and 3 pounds the third week, which would average out at a pound per day for a 21 day fast. However, this comes back VERY quickly post fast and usually with a lot extra. So it is my advice NOT TO fast unless it is for a serious health issue that has been very carefully considered. If you need to lose weight - a fast is probably one of the worst things you could do for that.

If you need to lose some excess fat then you need to EAT and you need to train. Check out my ebook:

From Fat to Fabulous: The Smart Girl's Guide To Raw Food Diet Weight Loss 98% of all diets fail - these are not good odds. Yet the moment you have excess fat on you, the dieting industry is the first place you turn. In fact, you've probably spent years on one diet or the other. And yet you DON'T have your ideal body. It's time for a radical shift in the paradigm about weight loss and for a true understanding of what caused the weight gain in the first place - hint: top of the list is DIETING! Click here to find out more about From Fat To Fabulous: The Smart Girl's Guide To Raw Food Diet Weight Loss

Breaking The Fast

Water fasts should be broken on juicy fruits, such as oranges or watermelon in very small quantities, i.e. half an orange or a fist sized piece of watermelon every 2 hours on the first day.

On the second day every four hours slightly larger juicy fruit meal can be eaten, and on the third day, three juicy fruit meals.

On the fourth day some lettuce can be added to the fruit meals and by the fifth day some lightly steamed vegetables.

It is advisable however to try to eat low fat raw foods exclusively for at least the same amount of time after the fast as the length of the fast.

So if you fasted for a week, eat 100% low fat fruits and vegetables exclusively for at least a week afterwards.

For water fasts of 3 days or less break the fast with any simple fruit meal you choose, you don't have to eat very small meals as 3 days is not long enough for your digestive system to have completely shut down as in a longer fast.

However, you must break the fast on FRUIT, do not break it on other foods as this will be very hard for your body and will undo much of the good you have done by fasting.

If you eat exclusively raw fruits and vegetables for at least 3 days following the fast, you will continue to detoxify and will benefit all the more.

After The Fast

If you fasted for an extended period, you will gradually regain your full strength and should go easy on yourself, eating very well and exercising gently until you regain your vigor.

Do not try to jump straight back into intense exercise, build up to this over a couple of weeks.

If you fasted for only a few days, take it easy for the few days immediately after the fast before you get back to your pre-fasting exercise routine.

Related Pages

Return to the Raw Food Diet - Loving-It-Raw Home Page